Meaning
The day a leaf falls into the water is not the day it rots. Wrongs and consequences take time — a grievance is not forgotten just because time has passed, and what is owed will come due eventually. Patience, and a warning that a reckoning may come slowly.
Examples
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Him tink mi forget, but same day leaf drop, a nuh same day it rotten.
He thinks I've forgotten, but the day the leaf falls isn't the day it rots.
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Give it time — same day leaf drop, a nuh same day it rotten.
Give it time — consequences come slowly, but they come.
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Dem wrongdoing a go ketch up wid dem; same day leaf drop, a nuh same day it rotten.
Their wrongdoing will catch up with them; things unfold in their own time.
Origin
A river image: a fallen leaf floats a long while before it finally rots — so consequences and reckonings ripen slowly, out of sight.
How it’s used
Used to counsel patience, or as a quiet warning that a wrong will be answered in time even if not at once.